


Flickering

by andtheny



Series: Phantom Pain [2]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Alternate Origin Story, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, First Meetings, Gen, Separate Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:41:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22763401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andtheny/pseuds/andtheny
Summary: Taking place in the Phantom Pain Universe well before the events of Seeing Double.Or: How Danny met Phantom.
Relationships: Phantom & Fenton
Series: Phantom Pain [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1383205
Comments: 8
Kudos: 72





	Flickering

The ghost looked like a kid. Probably around Danny's age. He was sitting in front of the TV, hugging his knees against his chest. Absolutely absorbed in the show.

Danny stood behind the couch, holding himself as still as possible, trying to breath evenly. Quietly.

The ghost hadn't noticed him yet.

Danny had discovered him a week ago. He'd woken up in the middle of the night and noticed a faint glowing in the room.

The ghost was languishly floating up against the celing, running his hands over the stickers there.

The white hair stood out the most. It was bright in the dark.

And maybe he would have shrugged it off as a funny dream. But the ghost kept popping up around the house.

Sometimes he would flicker in and out of view. Like he had bad reception. Other times he was kind of transparent, just a faint outline.

Once Danny had watched, mouth agape, as his sister walked right through him.

She'd been walking with her nose in a book with no regard for her surroundings. After she'd gone through him she shivered and looked up.

But the ghost had vanished again.

"What'cha watching Danno?" His dad came bounding into the room with all the noise and enthusiasm of an over-sized puppy.

The ghost boy disappeared.

"Uh, I just- just a TV show?" Danny said.

Dad grinned at him, clamping a large hand down on his shoulder. "Must be nice to get to watch it like its new again!"

"Yeah," Danny said. "It's nice."

It was late. Like 2 a.m. or something. Danny had tip toed into the kitchen to make himself a sandwich.

And he found the ghost kid sitting on top of the fridge.

Well, not quite sitting. Hovering. With his legs crossed together lotus style.

They made eye contact and the ghost blinked.

Tentatively, Danny waved.

The ghost gasped and vanished.

"Wait!" Danny whispered. "Come back!"

"Come back, he says," a disembodied voice muttered. "What is wrong with you?"

"Me? You're the one floating around like a weirdo," Danny said. "Where are you?"

The boy reappeared at the door to the basement. He waved his arms around slowly, wiggling his fingers. "Th-this is just a dream," he said in an exageratedly ghostly voice. "A dreaaaam."

Danny guffed. "You're not fooling anyone."

Ghost kid dropped his hands. "And you're... not scared?"

"I've seen you around." Danny shrugged. "Sort of got used to you?"

The ghost's eyes widdened and he began to flickered in and out of view, like a light switch being flipped on and off.

"Hey hey," Danny said. "Why are you fading in and out like that?"

The ghost glanced down at himself. "Oh," he said.

He ran a hand through his white hair. "I just lose it sometimes, I guess."

"Your visibility?"

"More like the other way around," the ghost sighed. "I'm lucky no one else spotted me."

"If my parents saw you they'd shoot you," Danny agreed.

"Ugh, they _would._ " The ghost seemed to be settling down, he had stopped flickering.

Danny approached him slowly, holding a hand up. "Are you solid?"

The ghost mirrored him and they brought their hands together, both flinching back at what felt like a static shock.

"Hey!' Danny said.

The ghost flickered out of view.

"You're still there, right?" Danny examined his hand, but there wasn't a burn or anything.

"I wasn't expecting that," the ghost said.

"It was my fault, I guess." Despite himself, he reached out and found what he guessed might be an arm.

"No shock this time, huh?"

"You're a stupid human," the ghost said. "Stupider than I ever was."

The arm was solid in Danny's grasp, but cold. Like the other boy had been rolling around in snow.

"Make yourself visible," Danny said.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Just... no. Go back to sleep."

Danny shivered and the ghost pulled away from him. "This is super weird," the ghost said.

_"You_ think it's weird?"

The ghost reappeared closer than Danny was anticipating. He yelped and jumped back.

Upstairs lights were flickering on.

"Danny? Are you okay?"

The ghost looked alarmed. He dove towards the ground, swimming through the floor.

A few days went by with no sign of him. Maybe the ghost decided haunting a house with ghost hunters wasn't the smartest idea.

But then Danny woke up one night to find the guy staring at him in his sleep.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

"Sorry," the ghost said. "I didn't want to wake you."

Danny blinked. "How long have you been here?"

The ghost shrugged.

Danny gathered his blankets around his shoulders. "That's kinda creepy dude."

The ghost spun himself around until he was floating upside down, white bangs dangling in a ghostly breeze. "I'm _bored._ "

"So that makes me your entertainment?"

"Yes." The ghost straightened, balancing precariously on a wooden bedpost. "Go on then." He clapped his hands. "Entertain!"

Danny huffed. "I'm a boring person."

"Nonsense," the ghost said. "You're fascinating just by existing."

He'd been holding himself up in a theatrical pose, but suddenly he deflated. "I shouldn't be bothering you," he said. "It's just been a long time since anyone talked to me."

Danny squinted at the ghost. "Have you been dead for a really long time?"

That got a surprised laugh out of the other. "No, actually. And I wasn't even sure I even was dead."

The ghost leaned forward, cupping his hands around his mouth conspiratorially. "In fact," he whispered. "I didn't think I really existed."

"If you can think and move and talk what's there to doubt?" Danny said.

"Mine is a special case," the ghost said. He somersaulted off the bed. "Anyway! I'll let you sleep."

"Okay... but uh." Danny hesitated.

"Yeah?"

"Can I tell you something?"

"Sure." The ghost settled back down at the foot of Danny's bed.

"I woke up a while ago," Danny said.

"That usually happens after falling asleep," the ghost said, grinning.

"But I didn't fall asleep," Danny said. "Like... they told me I was in an accident."

"Uh huh."

"I lost all my memories, I guess." Danny rubbed at the back of his head, suddenly self conscious. "What I mean is... everyone I met already knew me. But I didn't know them. Or me."

He pushed the blankets off, suddenly feeling too warm. "Maybe it's weird to say this to a ghost," Danny said. "And maybe you really don't exist. I could be crazy."

"Making me a hallucination?" The ghost said.

"Exactly." Danny lifted his hand again and the ghost did the same. When they pressed their palms together there wasn't a shock this time.

And their hands were exactly the same size.

"What I mean is," Danny gulped. "It's nice to meet someone new. And someone who's a little bit lost too."

"I'm a _lotta_ bit lost buddy," the way he laughed reminded Danny of his dad. Loud and nervous, like he was desperate to fill the silence. "But it's nice for me too."

"Right, yeah." Danny rubbed at his eyes and tried not to yawn. "So. See you around?"

"See ya!" With a cheery wave the ghost vanished once again.

Danny stared at the seemingly empty room for a second. "Don't watch me sleep," he said.

A fading giggle was the only response.


End file.
